In an interesting team-up, Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro has teamed up with Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Thompson to adapt Naoki Urasawa’s critically-acclaimed manga Monster. It apparently took a while for del Toro to convince Urasawa, but he eventually accepted the proposal, and now Monster will be entering production on HBO. Urasawa’s original manga tells the story of a doctor who saves a child who grows up to be a sociopath, and the journey the doctor takes to right his wrongs. Read more…

Some sad news for anime and manga fans everywhere: Toren Smith has passed away. He was an early translator of many popular manga titles and helped bring over many early works. He helped translate The Legend of Kamui, one of the first manga titles brought over, and went on to found Studio Proteus which aided in bringing over manga like Akira, Appleseed, Astro Boy, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Nausicaa. He also helped found AnimeCon 1991, along with Gainax’s Toshio Okada and John McLaughlin. Gainax even featured him (in name) in Gunbuster to recognize his accomplishments. His influence has been felt far and wide, and the anime & manga industry today would be very different if not for his impressive body of work. He will be missed. Read more…

Though it’s old hat by now, Dragon Ball (or for the portion that American fans like, Dragon Ball Z) is one of the biggest, most popular manga ever released in Japan. It’s always in print, with a new definitive version, but now a new version is finally adding something to make it even more palatable for anyone turned off by manga’s black-and-white style: color. Read more…

If you haven’t seen Black Lagoon, an anime from 2006, let me bottom-line it for you: it’s a loving take on American action films and Western tones, as well as directors such as Quentin Tarantino and John Woo. It sounds like that would result in a parody, but it feels like an excellent homage, telling the story of a multicultural group of mercenaries and the people they meet in the criminal underground of Southeast Asia. The manga has been running since 2002, with most of it adapted in anime form, but has been on hiatus since 2010. Thankfully, fans won’t have to wait much longer for more! Read more…

Looks like Viz is finally understanding that their digital magazine Shonen Jump Alpha was in an awkward place when it came to their content. With a two-week delay between the latest manga chapters that run in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump, their translations were not current enough to morally deter those who read free scanlations, yet too current to be collected into a full volume. As a result, I’m sure many fans of manga such as Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and many more simply glanced at Viz’s offerings, asked themselves why they’d pay for a two-week old official version, and continued reading scanlations that appear a few days after a new issue was released. It looks like Viz got the memo, because now readers can get the content instantly. Read more…

If you aren’t familiar with Danboard he’s a cardboard action figure who is based on an issue of the Yotsuba&! manga. The original model kit that became popular in Japan was produced by Revoltech, but this newest kit caught my eye because it’s made out of plastic! What;s nice about this new kit is that the cover features an illustration by the japanese artist Hidetaka Tenjin who is famous for his beloved illustrations of Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross. Shown below are a number of examples from Japan of local hobbyists who had fun with this kit: Read more…

Two new pieces of news are floating around regarding Spike Lee’s remake of Park Chan-Wook’s film Oldboy. While Josh Brolin had been confirmed to be playing the leading man (Dae-su), several other important parts were left un-cast. However now we have two names popping up: Clive Owen is being offered the role of the villain (Woo-jin), and Mia Wasikowska the role of the lead female (Mi-do). I think Clive Owen is a perfect choice, and I love him as an actor. He simply needs more roles to breathe in, and this could be a great part for him. Read more…

At long last the One Piece x Hello Kitty goodies are hitting the shelves in Japan for all of those kitty pirates who want something cool for Christmas! This collection includes a line of phone charms, ear buds, a notebook and of course and iPhone case which can be purchased online (of course your ill need to know how to read Japanese): Read more…

As a retro anime fanboy my heart warmed up when I came across the table of Tara Tallan at the New York Comic Con — her webcomic Galaxion is very inspired by Star Blazers which happens to be one of my favorite shows in the universe. Unlike most science fiction stories this manga isn’t dark and gritty, if you love indie comics you can show Tara your support by buying the first two volumes of the series: Read more…

In the past one of the problems with ebook readers is that it’s difficult to read small text, and this has made it difficult to read graphic novels from the print world. However today with the iPad and similar devices new worlds have opened up for graphic novels fans. Many established companies like Viz and Dark Horse have jumped onto this bandwagon, but now outsider companies from abroad are joining these ranks. Read more…

Oh sure anybody can go to an anime convention these days — but this September 24th manga fans in Japan are in for a treat: There will be a one day festival that’s just focused on the manga artist’s collective CLAMP. The gathering will feature music, videos, interviews, skits and of course cosplayers are welcome to attend. Read more…

This is kind of exciting news for manga fans. CrunchyRoll is readying a closed beta for their upcoming online manga distribution platform, JManga.com and are currently accepting applications from North Americans readers interested in testing it out. They haven’t released too many details about the new service, but have stated that they’ve been working closely with their partners in Japan in order to facilitate their selection of content. They’re hoping to use your feedback to improve the site before its official launch later this year. Like CrunchyRoll, I imagine it will be in the form of a subscription based premium service. To sign up for a chance to take part in the closed beta, simply click here and fill out their form. If you’re picked for the beta, they’ll be notifying you the first week of July.

A few years back when I began my first blog another blogger commented on a post I wrote. I followed back, and I became a reader of his own blog. Kitsune of Kitsune Thought’s, what I always appreciate are intelligent content, and comments, so to my knowledge Kitsune has been a great person to talk to via blog comments. Here’s my interview: Read more…

The first time I believe I heard about Ed Sizemore was on the Manga Movable Feast for Mushishi, then on Twitter, and subsequently on the con scene. Of course from those interactions, I started to pay attention to his activity on the internet, and he is pretty busy, involved with ComicsWorth Reading and other sites. As I was tapped to interview anime/manga bloggers on the web, I definitely wanted to included Ed in the schedule, so here via an email interview are his thoughts to my questions. Read more…

Fans can exist not just in the United States, but just about anywhere in the world. Take for instance this week’s blogger interview with Lissa Pattillo, our neighbor up north in friendly Canada! Okay corny geography jokes aside, Lissa runs a very nice guide to manga news and reviews via Kuriosity. She is involved in way more websites than Kuriosity, and I will leave it for you to read under the cut. So I have notice/lurked her site from her interaction with the defunct Boys on Boys on Film website. She provides the fact that irregardless of geography, reading and love for manga has no boarders! Read more…

With the many blogs that I have encounter searching for great graphic novel recommendations, one of them is Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic. To my knowledge she had became a fan of graphic novels as an adult, and therefore provides a pretty interesting perspective from her reviews. She provides insightful responses from her email interview, to which I am quite pleased to include under the cut. Read more…

Aside from the ocean, the outer space is considered to be one of the last frontiers to be explored. Neil Armstrong was quoted when he stepped on the moon: “This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The outer space is still a hope of many to be explored, and this is a theme for the series of Twin Spica. Read more…

In a life time, a quarter life is a milestone and put this in the context of Viz Media, who just so happens to be celebrating 25 years of being in business this upcoming year. Does it call for a celebration or what? The American manga industry has been having stormy weather recently, so for manga fans, knowing that Viz Media’s age is actually a positive one. Read more…

Above: Rica ‘tte Kanji!? really proved to an American audience that manga didn’t have to be about magical girls or robots, but could tell personal stories about the real world. Currently an Rica ‘tte Kanji!? Omnibus is being produced.

When you are around manga and graphic novels a lot, one voice or genre might pop up, and that is the alternative press of gay and lesbian that is quite popular among readers and fans. You don’t have to even be a fan for this genre, but be open minded to know that it is there. Within the past couple of weeks, there has been an issue of censorship in graphic novels on Amazon Kindle. So this week we are happy to have an email interview with ALC Publishing and Yuricon founder Erica Friedman. Erica’s blog is called Okazu which are the wonderful Japanese bread with savory fillings. Read more…